Classroom Management

So far I have experienced the importance of an efficience classroom management. Here is an article where I found interesting suggestions for us:
Quick Tips to Help with Classroom Management
Ideas to Help with Classroom Discipline and Management

Keeping a classroom running smoothly is a day-to-day task for teachers. The purpose of this list is to provide teachers with ideas that they can begin to implement right away. Use this in conjunction with the top tips for successful classroom discipline to help create an effective and enjoyable learning environment in your class.

1. Write With Large Letters on the Board
While this might seem simplistic, the fact is that some students will have trouble seeing the board if you write in small letters on the board, or if you don't write dark enough. Don't give students any more excuse than normal for not participating. Something you can try is to write something on the board in your normal method, then go to the back of the room and see if you can read it. If you have trouble, some of you students will be having trouble too.

2. Speak Loudly
I once had a very sweet teacher who reverted every day to almost a whisper. This is not an ideal situation in that students will either lose focus quickly since they can't hear their teacher very clearly or they will start disrupting class. However, this does not mean you should shout. In fact, screamers are just as bad as whisperers in losing kids attention.

3. Learn Names and Use Them

Obviously, the sooner you learn names in the school year, the better. However, even after the beginning of school has long passed, you should still call students by their name. This keeps them focused and involved.

4. Write Your Agenda on the Board
Even if you just write headings, providing the students with information about what is going to be covered in class by writing an agenda on the board can help keep them focused. With this said, it is not a good idea to write the homework assignment on the board, as some students will be tempted to begin it instead of participating in the lesson.

5. Don't Race Through Lessons
Sometimes teachers have so much information to cover that they just race through lessons each day. However, this can be a mistake as it doesn't allow students of varying abilities the chance to keep up with the information being taught. It is important to ask questions while you are teaching to gauge students understanding. With this information, you can then choose to continue on or to slow down and cover material in greater depth. However, if you just speed through your lessons, you won't have this as an option.


6. Require Students to Raise Their Hands
Having students raise their hands is a very important classroom management skill. This requirement allows you to have the ability to call on different students instead of just allowing same few to always call out answers in the classroom. Further, it allows you to provide wait time to let students have the chance to think about your question, giving more students the opportunity to be involved.

7. Give Students Enough Time to Raise Their Hands

As mentioned previously, wait time is a very important concept. Obviously, if you are not having students raise their hands then you really can't use wait time. However, if you have students raise their hands, do not call on the first child that throws their hand in the air. Instead, wait five to seven seconds before calling on anyone. This will allow students to have the time to listen to, think about, and formulate an answer to any question you pose.

8. Ask Obvious Questions

You should ask questions to the class at all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. However, some teachers fail to ask very simple questions, seeing them as obvious and unnecessary. However, they can serve a couple of purposes. First, they can get more students involved in answering questions since their answers are obvious. Second, they can provide you with quick feedback on what the students are learning. If what you think is obvious isn't so easy for the students, you need to relook at what you are teaching.


Source:

http://712educators.about.com/od/teachingstrategies/tp/Quick-Tips-To-Help-With-Classroom-Management.htm